


Shades Of Gray

by Val_Creative



Category: Top Gun (1986)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, Blood, Broken Bones, Bruises, Delirium, Developing Relationship, Explicit Language, Injury Recovery, M/M, Men Crying, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rival Relationship, Smoking, Tears, Unconsciousness, Violence, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27773812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: Admiral Benjamin wants revenge on Maverick for breaking his little girl's heart. Iceman finds Maverick afterwards.
Relationships: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25
Collections: Torture Flash Exchange 2020





	Shades Of Gray

**Author's Note:**

  * For [simplecoffee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplecoffee/gifts).



> THIS IS ACTUALLY MY FIRST TIME SEEING THIS MOVIE. I WAS TOLD OVER AND OVER TO WATCH IT. AND HERE I AM. I really hope that it sounds good and that it's good in general. Any thoughts would be welcomed on this. Thank you!

*

Gray.

It's all dulled gray shadows behind his bruised eyelids. He's motionless, coming to.

Maverick forces himself to open his eyes, wincing at a deep, burning ache in his left wrist. _Fuck._ Something's cracked. 

"Gentlemen…"

A familiar and nasally-sounding voice rings out. Regulation boots shuffle heavily. Maverick gets a glimpse of their uniforms and notices the spotless white gleaming in the dark. Naval officers. All of them. But not one of their faces immediately recognizable.

"Whaddah we got here?" Maverick winces again, feeling the hard curl of fingers digging into his scalp, yanking him. "A rat?"

Admiral Benjamin, blue-eyed like some soulless devil, glares down on him.

 _"Fuck you,"_ Maverick breathes. He grunts loudly in pain as a hard, jarring kick aims for his ribs. 

Blood gleams on the concrete floor.

"Now don't you be mouthin' off to me, boy," Admiral Benjamin declares. He puffs on his cigar, its end glowing a bright, smoldering red. "I got you, _Pete_. Right here. There's no leavin' unless I want you to." Maverick's stomach roils in disgust. He coughs weakly as the other man blows smoke in his face. "Did you think you could hurt my Penny and get away with it?"

Maverick grunts wordlessly. From the looks of it, they're in a cargo hold and he's been beaten with an inch of his life.

"With… with all due respect, sir…" he pants. "What happened… it's none of your business why she left…"

One of the naval officers swings a boot. It lands against Maverick's bruise-swollen side.

"You're a cocky little bastard," Admiral Benjamin mutters, blowing out more smoke and yanking on Maverick's cropped, dark hair. "You run around thinkin' nothing'll ever touch you. Maybe it won't… but you got your RIO killed. That was you. No matter what the Board of Inquiry rules." "You're a disgrace to the Navy just like _your dead daddy_."

Maverick's teeth expose in a clench. He jerks his injured hand up, to strike out, and Admiral Benjamin grabs it and twists.

_No—!_

Pain, hot and explosive, seizes Maverick.

_NO—!_

*

He reawakens from the grey shadows closing around him. And there's nobody else.

"No," Maverick repeats softly, dragging himself. "No, no—no."

*

Everything feels off.

His injuries thrum Maverick's chest, and on the insides of his skull, disorientating him. He collapses onto a wall. Bright florescent white lighting. Somehow, he got to his feet and reached an office. Maverick clutches over his hot, sweaty face, punishingly hard.

_Goose…_

Tears trickle from the corners of Maverick's eyes. He can hear him. He can hear how Goose's body impacted the aircraft's canopy. Maverick gags on a ragged, body-shuddering sob. It should've been him and not Goose… it should've been him…

Heavy footsteps. Iceman rushes over, skidding to a halt and dropping to a knee.

"Jesus," he mumbles, gazing over Maverick's facial bruises. There's gigantic red spots of blood on Maverick's featureless tee and his jeans. "Maverick. Get a hold of yourself. Look at me. What happened? Who the hell did this to you?" 

Maverick takes a long moment of delirium, staring tearfully at the ceiling, before responding.

_"Mm'sssed up… I messed up…"_

Iceman shakes his head. 

He focuses on Maverick's broken wrist, treating it gently. It's not like him, Maverick's brain insists. He's supposed to be cold like ice. "It won't be the last time you do," Iceman grumbles, finally meeting his eyes. "You're gonna be fine. Get up, Mav."

"Goose…"

Maverick's voice thickens with emotion. His lips crease.

"You're alive. He's not." Iceman studies him, frowning. "It's about time you sat down with that and made your peace. Goose was one of us. He wouldn't wanna see you like this, Mav. You're gonna tell me what happened one way or another, you got that?"

Iceman's palm touches his cheek. It's so startlingly warm that Maverick feels a bit of the delirium vanishing.

Maverick gets slowly eased onto his feet, trembling noticeably and starting from the beginning.

He's all gray.

But it has to be better than nothing.

*


End file.
